


Like breathing was easy

by extrastellar



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Hanahaki Disease, M/M, Mayu has feelings, Prompt Fill, Unrequited Love, angsty
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-15
Updated: 2017-03-15
Packaged: 2018-10-05 17:16:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,283
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10313195
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/extrastellar/pseuds/extrastellar
Summary: The first time was after the Winter Cup final.Mayuzumi Chihiro coughs up petals and he knows exactly whose fault it is. That doesn't make it any less painful.





	

**Author's Note:**

> So, uh, I wrote this last night when I had some time to spare from school. I found the prompt on mayuaka.tumblr.com and couldn't resist! :)

The first time was after the Winter Cup final.

He had hurried to get out of the locker room, away from all the sweat and frustration and tears, when the dull burning started in the pit of his chest.

Now, Chihiro hadn't been sick in years, apart from his hay fever. It was the first time that he felt even remotely sick. But of course, that couldn't be it. He didn't get sick. He was healthy. It was probably only dust he had swallowed or the extreme exhaustion from the game.

When he coughed however, he felt something move up his windpipe into his mouth.  
Something distinctly soft, yet solid. No slime, then. But what else could move up from his chest into his mouth?

Chihiro's stomach churned when he brought his hand up to his mouth.

'Don't be ridiculous', he told himself. 'It can't be hanahaki. Why would I have hanahaki? I'm not in love with anyone.'

Chihiro turned to check if anyone from his team was near before spitting the thing in his mouth into his palm.

His stomach dropped.

Rakuzan's phantom player stared at the petal resting in his hand, scarlet colour against his pale skin, yet as innocent as a flower could be.

“Fuck”, he hissed and shoved the petal into his pocket. No one could see. Not before Chihiro figured out what it meant for him.

“Mayuzumi”, Higuchi, their manager, said when they climbed into the bus a few minutes later. “Are you okay? You look rather pale. Did you drink enough?”

Chihiro shot him a flat glare. “For the record, I'm not exactly tanned, Higuchi.”

Higuchi frowned, but kept quiet. Everyone in the bus was frustrated – Chihiro too, admittedly – so curt and harsh answers were nothing unusual.

When the bus left for Kyoto, Chihiro wondered if the pressure in his chest came from the flower blooming inside of it or the worry he tried to desperately to suppress.

 

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

 

Red poinsettia. Also called the Christmas Star. It meant success.

Chihiro wasn't stupid.

He knew who was responsible for that special flower growing inside his ribcage.

Red hair, a December birthday, an unhealthy obsession with victory.

Akashi Seijuurou.

Chihiro shut his laptop and fell back from his bed, an arm thrown over his eyes.

Akashi – out of all people _Akashi_ \- was the one he fell in love with.

It wasn't as if Chihiro didn't know that his feelings for his kouhai and captain might go beyond acceptance and begrudging respect.

But love?

Chihiro suppressed a cough rising up in his chest.

Love was something he had never considered. He had his light novels, his tumblr and school, he was busy enough without a boyfriend. Because who was he kidding, he was totally gay for Akashi. He had never felt for a girl the same way he did for the crazy redhead.

Still. A boyfriend didn't fit into his life.

And yet...

Here he was. Coughing up red poinsettia because of the crazy human perfection that was Akashi Seijuurou.

Chihiro's throat was raw when he fished another petal from his mouth and threw it into the bin. 

His parents were asleep, lucky for him as he had coughed so hard upon entering the house that three petals flew from his mouth. He couldn't imagine the horror on his parents' faces should they discover that their son, their only child, was terminally ill unless he got an expensive and dangerous surgery.

Chihiro hushed down the stairs, expertly avoiding the creaking steps, to fetch himself a glass of water to soothe his raw throat.

It was commonly know that there were two ways of curing hanahaki disease: a surgery to remove the plant resulting in the loss of all romantic emotions for the person who caused the disease or getting said person to reciprocate one's feelings which would result in a natural decomposition of the flower without any harm coming to the body.

The surgery was expensive and health insurance only paid parts of it, but Chihiro's parents were wealthy (he _was_ attending Rakuzan after all), so money wasn't the issue.

But Chihiro felt extremely uncomfortable about removing the plant and his feelings for Akashi. He hadn't come to realise the whole expanse of his romantic sentiments for Rakuzan's captain, but still... even that slight fluttery feeling was something Chihiro found himself desperately clinging to.  
The chances that Akashi would reciprocate his feelings were almost zero, the flower blooming inside his chest was proving that more than anything else.  
Yet a small glimmer of hope remained that maybe - _just maybe_ \- Akashi could feel the same way.

The captain of their basketball team had come personally to recruit Chihiro. He had trained him. Taught him. Chihiro _must have_ meant something to him.

'Well, or he just used you as a replacement for that Kuroko kid', Chihiro thought bitterly and chugged the rest of his water. 'Nothing else, probably. I'm being ridiculous. Akashi reciprocating my feelings? Hah.'

“Chihiro?”, a sleepy woman's voice came from the doorway. “What are you doing up?”

“Just thirsty, Mum”, he said and placed his glass on the counter, ignoring the new scratching inside his chest. “Go back to sleep.”

Chihiro's mother hummed and gave her son a soft smile. “Good night then, honey.”

Chihiro couldn't smile back.

 

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

 

The second Akashi left the roof, Chihiro doubled over in a coughing fit.

He had suppressed the almost painful urge to clear his windpipe throughout the whole conversation with Akashi, even maintained his neutral mask despite the immense burning inside his chest.

He could feel his mouth filling with the red petals and his chest was on fire. Coughs wracked his body, brought tears to his eyes until Chihiro had to gasp for air.

Red poinsettia petals fell from his lips to the grey floor before being blown away.

Chihiro wiped his mouth with his sleeve and sucked a deep breath inside his burning lungs.

“What a metaphor”, he muttered, voice croaky and raw from the coughing. He picked the remaining petals up and stuffed them into his pocket. Better to leave no evidence at all. It would be unusual to find poinsettia petals on a school roof.

 

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

 

“Your case is proceeding rather fast”, his doctor said while pointing at the x-ray picture. “As you can see, the poinsettia has expanded into the trachea and it's threatening to pierce your right lung. Hanahaki tends to proceed faster when immediate separation is near. Is that the case, Mayuzumi-kun?”

Chihiro shifted in his seat. “Yes. My graduation.”

The doctor nodded. “I see. Given how fast the flower has grown this past month, I need you to take action within the next two weeks. Otherwise the poinsettia will close up your trachea and cause damage to your lung. I will also need to speak with your pa-”

“Please keep my parents out of this”, Chihiro cut him off. “I'd rather take care of this myself.”

“Mayuzumi-kun, I understand your concerns”, the doctor said slowly. “But I _will_ have to speak to your parents. Your case of hanahaki is very grave and as I said, the disease proceeds very quickly. You're still a minor, thus consulting your parents when the stage is critical is obligatory.”

“Am I in a critical state yet?”, Chihiro asked and his gaze flicked to the x-ray. It looked surreal, that little plant growing inside his chest. Funny, not dealdy. Innocent, even.

The doctor narrowed his eyes. “I am afraid that you are. Trachea and lungs are in immediate danger.”

Chihiro managed to maintain a neutral face. He hadn't told his parents _anything_. They didn't know about his excessive coughing, the petals coming from his mouth, the burning inside his chest, both metaphorical and literal whenever he spotted Akashi in school. And now they'd be confronted with the final stages of a terminal illness inhabiting their son.

“Mayuzumi-kun, I'm not sure if you completely grasp the situation you're in. If you fail to get surgery or have your feelings reciprocated within the next two weeks, you will have less than a month to live. In your case, it might even be mere weeks.”

Chihiro shot him a glare. “What makes you think I don't understand, sensei?”

The doctor sighed. “Please take this seriously, Mayuzumi-kun. My assistant will schedule your next appointment, please talk to her about it.”

Chihiro rose and grabbed his jacket. “Could I have something against the pain?”

“There is a plant rooted inside your chest. Ibuprofen won't help soothe that pain and I can't prescribe you morphine. The only thing I can do is give you pills against the soreness of your throat.”

“I have these at home.”

“Alright. I will see you then, Mayuzumi-kun. Please take care and be aware that your parents will attend the next appointment.”

Chihiro shut the door behind him with a mere nod. He stared at his chest and poked it slightly as if to feel for the plant.

He felt nauseous when he could actually feel the thin branches pressed up against his skin.

 

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

 

 **You** : “are you free rn?”

 **Akashi** : “Is something wrong, Mayuzumi-san?”

 **You** : “just tell me if ur free or not”

 **Akashi** : “I'm afraid that I'm busy at the moment. Maybe Mibuchi-san can help you out.”

Chihiro groaned and dialled Mibuchi's number. Out of the three Uncrowned Kings at Rakuzan, Mibuchi Reo was the least annoying.He had good taste in literature, at least.

_”Chi-chan!”_

Chihiro grimaced at the gleeful pet name. “Hey. Do you know where Akashi is? I need to talk to him.”

Mibuchi clicked his tongue on the other end of the line. _”Chi-chan, so rude. At least ask me how I'm doing. And don't you know? Sei-chan is in hospital for a surgery.”_

Chihiro nearly dropped his phone. “Surgery? Why?”

_”...I'm not sure if I may tell you...”_

The phantom player's stomach somersaulted inside his torso and his heartbeat picked up its pace. Could it be?

“I'm graduating in less than a month, Mibuchi. And I'm not in for gossip like you.”

_”You don't know this from me, alright? Sei-chan had hanahaki disease and decided to get the plant removed.”_

Chihiro's heart was hammering so fast and loud he was afraid the neighbours would hear it. Was that even possible? Reciprocated hanahaki? Pining after each other but believing that love to be unrequited resulting in hanahaki disease for both?

“Akashi had hanahaki? Huh. For whom?”, Chihiro asked and was glad that his voice was still neutral despite the torrent of emotions raging inside of him. He swallowed thickly. Making assumptions now would be a shitty idea. “That Kuroko guy?”

Mibuchi made a disagreeing noise. _”You could show a bit of emotion, Chi-chan. And no, it's not the cute blue-haired boy. It's his former captain. Nijimura.”_

Chihiro nearly let the phone slip from his fingers when his heart skipped a beat. He must've made some sort of choked off noise because Mibuchi immediately asked what was wrong.

“Nothing”, he replied, sharper than intended. “Just, who would've thought Akashi could actually fall in love?”

'I did', he thought bitterly and started blinking rapidly. The dull burning inside his chest reignited itself. 'I thought he could fall in love with me. Hell, I thought he _was_ in love with me! I'm such a fool. Such a bloody fool.'

_”Chi-chan, are you sure? You sound pained.”_

“Stubbed my toe because I didn't expect that and didn't pay attention to my surroundings”, Chihiro said dryly. “Laugh all you want at that. Thanks for the information, Mibuchi.”

_”...no problem, Chi-chan.”_

Chihiro ended the call and dropped his phone on the bed.

'Nijimura Shuuzo', he thought. 'The guy who was the numer one power forward in middle school before Aomine Daiki came along. No wonder Akashi falls for someone like that. God, how could that rainbow asshole not reciprocate his feelings?'

His chest started hurting.

'I would've given almost anything for Akashi to fall so hard for me he gets hanahaki. Just with me, it wouldn't have come to that. None of us would be coughing up petals.'

Finally, Chihiro coughed, letting the petals force their way up his windpipe and into his mouth. His throat was raw and sore and he could feel the petals scratching against the chafed skin.

It was the pain and the pressure from the heaving coughs causing the tears.

Nothing else.

Of course nothing else.

When he opened his eyes again, there were a dozen of petals in the white sheets surrounded by specks of blood.

“I'm dying and it's goddamn Akashi Seijuurou's fault”, he mumbled and rubbed his chest, feeling the branches beneath the skin. They were longer than before. “Turns out this is the only green thumb I'll ever have.”

“Chihiro, are you- _oh god._ ”

Chihiro whipped around and instinctively held his arm out to hide the blood and petals on the sheets. “Dad-”

His father stared at him in panic and horror. “That's blood around the petals.”

Chihiro's father was a doctor at a prestigious clinic in the centre. That was why Chihiro had chosen to see a doctor in the suburbs. He had to avoid any information coming to his father at all costs.

His father knew what hanahaki was. He was a doctor, of course he did. He knew the symptoms, the stages. He knew which state his son was in.

“Dad”, Chihiro said and moved his arm away to pick one bloodied petal up. His mouth tasted like copper and flowers, bitter and sweet. 

He didn't feel the burning inside his chest, the pulsing pain at the back of his throat where the skin was chafed and raw.

He felt numb.

“How fast can I get surgery?”


End file.
